Come together
Sylvie Hill
Nothing as dear as folk
It's not that folk music is better than rock and roll. It's just so sincere, and its recent history is shaped more by acid than ego trips. Peace and love, man. "If you go to a folk festival, expect to be hugged," laughs Ottawa's interim director of planning and operations for the Ottawa Folk Festival, Ana Miura. "The folk world is all about togetherness and being introduced to something new."
Like their predecessors from the '60s, today's folk musicians are as passionate about promoting peace, taking care of the environment and appreciating culture.
"Folkies are very active in fostering things," Miura says. She cites Bruce Cockburn's humanitarian efforts as one example. And another is how both the Folk Festival and Bluebird North events in Ottawa encourage a bottle-free environment.
In 2003, Miura herself decided it was time to start making a difference in her community and established Babes for Breasts, which unites the musical community and the health community to raise money in the fight against breast cancer.
Socially, the folk tradition has always been about being active - whether rallying for a cause or dancing wildly at an outdoor concert. But, sonically, folk music as a style is challenging to define because of its amorphous nature, comprised of all sounds from bluegrass and psychedelic to roots and Americana.
"Folk music is primordial to humanity," says Arthur McGregor, owner of the Folklore Centre since 1976. "Everyone sings songs as a kid, and 99.9 percent of the time,
those songs are folk songs." Given that folk songs are what get absorbed into culture or tradition and connect everyone together, "they might even be Beatles songs," he muses. Historically, folklore was shared among the common folk through traditional song and dance. It evolved into expressions of nationalist identity in Eastern Europe and protest songs in North America. With its ethnic and political roots, and themes about regular urban life and love, folk music was popularized by Bob Dylan and Joan Baez got radio play in the '60s.
Capital City in the '60s
Since the '60s, Ottawa has played a large role in shaping the Canadian folk scene. Ottawa was a hotbed of big-name talents stopping in between Montreal and Toronto at Harvey Glatt's Le Hibou. Capital City's legendary William Hawkins, who was behind bands like Heavenly Blue with Cockburn, managed the coffeehouse. Hawkins hosted greats like Gordon Lightfoot, Judy Collins, Ian & Sylvia and Joni Mitchell. Jimi Hendrix dropped in once, and Richie Havens came to party at Le Hibou.
The vibrant scene energized bohemian coffeehouses like The Wasteland at the University of Ottawa, the hippy Kitchen Cinq, Roosters at Carleton University and Rasputin's Folk Café. Today, organizers for Raw Sugar Café, the Elmdale Tavern, the Ottawa Folk Festival and Lanark County's Concert on the Clyde are keeping the feeling alive.
"There's a direct proportion between how much energy is focused into the scene now and how many songs are going to be written in the future," predicts Kyrie Kristmanson about Ottawans' role in carrying on its rich folk heritage.
Award-winning Kristmanson (2009 Colleen Peterson Songwriting Award, Canadian Folk Music Award 2007) travels between Ottawa and France, where she's performed with Hawksley Workman and Amelie Loizaux, among many others. She says that when it comes to musical talent, the Europeans recognize Canada to be a "wonderful, exciting and curious market."
Celebrating Canadian folk music
To celebrate that talent, on Nov. 19 at the Dominion Chalmers Church, Ottawa will host the Canadian Folk Music Awards (CFMA). The awards recognize Canada's talented folk songwriters and performers and help draw Canadians' attention to the depth and breadth of folk music in Canada. The event is one of only two juried competitions in folk (the Junos being the other) and celebrates the magnificent diversity of Canada's musical heritage.
Ottawa nominee in the Children's Album of the Year category, Maggie G (a.k.a. Margot Glatt) realized while growing up in her father Harvey Glatt's musical household, meeting icons like Pete Seeger, that folk music was the most personable genre.
Compared to AC/DC, she says, "folk music often explains things to people in a more poetic way."
And it's all in the delivery.
"The experience you have in concert helps you develop allegiance; that's the human connection in folk music," she adds.
Ottawa's Lynne Hanson, nominated in the New/Emerging Artist of the Year category, agrees that the live performance is as integral for bonding as it is for business. Working the circuit at conferences in Texas and Arizona to get noticed, she says of the folk music industry: "They won't hire you if they can't see you play live."
With a rocker background (Town Cryers) and veteran of Ottawa's scene for 25 years, John Allaire (winner of the American Music Association-sponsored Best Lyrics award and nominated in the Best Live Acoustic Act category for the 2010 Toronto Independent Music Award) agrees that "the uniqueness of folk acts are a better catch."
Not that folk is better than rock, he says, "There's just a distance in rock, and folk is about breaking that down and showing the audience that we're all in this together."
"Folk people are real people; they don't have anything to prove," adds Miura. "They're there to listen to the music and relate to each other."
And anyone who disagrees should go folk themselves.
John Allaire and The Campistas
s/g Matchless (Montreal) and the Roundabout Singers Elmdale House Tavern Friday, Nov. 20, cover $8
Genticorum
Acoustic Waves Concert Series
@ GCTC
Nov 15, 8 pm, $22
The Canadian Folk Music Awards Ceremony
@ Dominon Chalmers United Church
Includes a post-show reception
@ Gatineau City Hall
Tix: $45 + taxes
Nov 21
Further CFMA weekend events: www.folkawards.ca
Almost 50 years ago, I started the Mariposa Folk Festival. The darned thing is going to outlive me -- something that certainly never crossed my mind way back then. I'd love to be more active, at least as appreciative audience, but it's not all that much fun going to events alone.
However, I am involved in plans for the Mariposa 50th and will be in Orillia to enjoy what promises to be a great event.
Meanwhile, I do live close to the Raw Sugar Cafe and may make a visit there soon. I had no idea it was folksy!!
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Ruth McVeigh (Jones)
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| See you at the Awards Gala and lots of other awesome shows!! |
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Sylvie Hill here ... just a note that the Canadian Folk Music Awards are actually being held at Dominion-Chalmers Church on Cooper at O'Connor! Go! Like the Junos but for folkies, for $45, such a great way to spend the evening with a bunch of fabulous people and musicians!
And if you dig your folk/roots/Americana, you are not going to want to miss a fantastic line-up this Friday, November 13, 2009 at the Blacksheep (http://www.theblacksheepinn.com/)
- Bush Pilots CD Release (http://www.myspace.com/bushpilots)
- Brothers Chaffey (http://www.myspace.com/brotherschaffey)
- The Grass
And looking ahead ... on Saturday, December 5, 2009, get thee to Zaphod's on York Street for Indie/Folk/Pop Goddess, Sarah Hallman (http://www.myspace.com/sarahhallman).
Cheers!
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Sylvie Hill
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Torch-folk songstress Jill Zmud - one of the Babes for Breasts - launches her debut album "as we quietly drive by" at the Black Sheep Inn this coming Sunday, November 15 at 4pm. To sample tracks from her new album, visit www.jillzmud.com.
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Jessica Ruano
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